Chapter 1: Daniel, The Engineer

Ana---I have mentioned that one of Travis’ brothers had come down from Mississippi to help us with the construction. (You can read more about him in “The Honey Trap”.) He did help with the design and layout of the cattle operation. The laboratory had an apartment over it where the feedlot manager would live. Close by was what Travis called a ‘Quonset Hut” where the laborers and cowboys who worked the cattle would live. On the other side of the lake, behind the Hotel, he built another Quonset hut where the employees who helped with the hotel and the tour business could live. Those Huts were huge. Dan had divided them into ten apartments each with bathrooms at the back where there were private showers and a row of sinks. They were not 4-star accommodations but very functional.

But Dan was no farmer or cowboy. When our compound was finished Father talked to him and soon after he was working on a new project for ‘Señor Gomez’. That’s what he calls my father. He moved back to the city and was helping with the construction of a high-rise apartment building my father was building in a nice part of the city. He was living at the hotel and working closely with Camilla, my sister, who had taken over most of my responsibilities.

Let’s talk about Camilla for a minute. As you know she is a lawyer. A lawyer in my country is different from a lawyer in the States. Here there is no ‘law school’ as such. Most, not all, go to a university and major in law. When they graduate, they start practicing, there is no ‘passing the bar’. When Camilla graduated, she went to work for my father. She was good, not great, but she could handle the paperwork and if she needed help father always made sure she had it.

He was as protective of her as he was of Patty and me so she had the same problems as us. Not many boyfriends, understand?

She met this guy who was from a good family and had just returned from studying abroad for the last couple of years. Within six months he asked for her hand.

It lasted 2 months!

She found some questionable charges on her credit card bill one day. She asked him about them, and he told her he was working on a big deal for ME. These were charges he had incurred wineing and dining potential clients. I guess he thought she would not check with me. She did and of course I had no idea what he was talking about. That night she confronted him. A big fight ensued, and he hit her several times in the face. The blows were hard enough that both her eyes were blacken and her nose was bloodied!

He stormed out of the apartment, and she called father. Father showed up minutes later with a doctor and the head of his security team. Remember former Marine Captain John O’Malley, Patty’s husband (The Guard)?

While the doctor attended to Camilla’s bleeding nose and black eyes, John and father talked in the other room. Camilla told me later that she heard bits of the conversation. Father was very upset and said he wanted this taken care of tonight. John said he would handle it and left.

The next morning a police Captain asked to come up to the penthouse. Father answered the elevator. He told the cop that Camilla was sick and not available. No questions. The captain was delivering a death notice. Camilla’s husband was the victim of a mugging and had been killed. His Rolex watch along with his cell phone were missing.